Heaven and Earth Together At Last
by thesaiyanjedi
Summary: The Fourth Great Shinobi War is over and love is in the air, but for two of the world's greatest heroes, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno, it will require a deep look inside themselves and a coming to terms with the past before they can discover true happiness. Will these two be able to sort out their true feelings or are they both fated to spend their lives in regret? Naru/Saku
1. Chapter 1--Separate Ways

Hey everybody, thesaiynjedi here with the first chapter of my latest fanfic, and it is one that some of you might have been waiting for.

In honor of April 3rd, "NaruSaku Day," I am starting a new story that will reveal how, in my alternate reality at least, Naruto and Sakura finally fell in love and began their romantic relationship. This story will be another prequel to my ongoing story "Shinachiku's First Adventure," and I am not expecting it to go for very long. My goal is to have it finished in time for April 3rd, but if I am unable to make that deadline please forgive me.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it, and just for the record this is just a fan's personal reinvisioning of the ending of the series with no intention of offending Masashi Kishimoto or the fans of his original ending.

With that said, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Separate Ways**

Love was in the air in Konoha. After the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War many up-and-coming ninjas from the new generation seemed to share the same realization: Life was short. Death could come at any moment, and perhaps it was best to count your blessings and enjoy life while it lasts.

Unfortunately for Naruto Uzumaki, great hero of the war and recently promoted Chūnin of Konohagakure, that meant taking a back seat to figure out his feelings for a certain pink-haired medical ninja. For years they have fought, trained and served together as part of Team 7, later known as Team Kakashi, named after their former sensei and their current Hokage.

As he sat there in his usual seat at Ichiraku Ramen, he remembered that from the moment he met her he knew she was special. And it was for more than just her pretty looks. Like him she had been picked on, bullied, treated like dirt for nothing that was her fault, in her case her large forehead. Frankly, Naruto had no idea what those kids were talking about, he always found her forehead quite charming...charming enough that he wanted to kiss it...

He had seen her at the academy, she was one of the top students in their class and by far the most promising kunoichi his age...Or at least she would have been, if not for her blatantly obvious crush on his best friend.

Yes, Sasuke Uchiha, the young man that was pretty much the only brother that Naruto had in this world. Cool, serious, powerful, he was everything that every girl his age wanted in a boyfriend. It was no wonder that Sakura became attracted to the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, and Naruto was a fool to ever think that he had any chance with her.

After Sasuke, err...severed ties with the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto was distraught that his best friend would do such a thing and did not hesitate to join Shikamaru's retrieval squad to get him back before he crossed the borders of the Land of Fire into Orochimaru's realm, the Land of Sound. Right as they were prepared to leave, Sakura came to him. She did not come to join them, she would not have been of much use back then anyway, but instead to beg for Naruto's help. She begged, out of desperation, for Naruto to bring Sasuke back to her, crying her eyes out as she said so.

In that instant he knew that he had lost, that no matter his feelings for her, Sakura's heart belonged to Sasuke and to Sasuke alone. And so, with a forced smile and a heavy heart, he made the most selfless decision of his life. He made her a promise of a lifetime to bring him home...a promise he failed that day and would dedicate the next five years of his life to fulfilling.

And so the two of them trained, endlessly, both together and apart, to the same common goal of getting back their friend, only to fail time and time again. And yet despite everything, despite all of the yelling, the punches, the chastising, the getting shot down for dates time and again...he still liked to believe that they were bonded now, even if she would never be his...

...Which was why that snowy day in the Land of Iron stuck out so much in his memory. It happened out of nowhere, not too long after an unexpected visit from a certain masked member of the Akatsuki, that Sakura showed up with three of their friends. Back in the village, the others had all decided that by this point Sasuke had become far too corrupt for his own good and unless drastic action was taken he could trigger an all-out war between the shinobi nations; therefore, they had a responsibility to end him. Sakura, shockingly, agreed to this and accepted the task of traveling all that way to tell him herself. But instead...she told him she **loved** him!

Of all the hypocrisy! Of all the random lunacy! After years of rejection and beatings, of making her feelings for Sasuke so obvious to everyone, now out of nowhere she expected him to just accept that her feelings had changed just like that?! How **stupid** did she think he was?! Needless to say he rejected her that day and told her she was lying to herself, much to her anger...and with that he also lost his only chance at being with her.

Naruto hadn't thought about that day in a long time, and even after he saved her from getting killed in her ill-fated attempt to end Sasuke herself, where he **literally** swept her off her feet to save her life, they have not talked about that day since...Frankly, it is a miracle that things ever returned to normal between them at all.

After the war Sasuke was finally returned home and Naruto finally fulfilled his promise...at the cost of his arm. Yeah, he got it back—in the most painful procedure he'd even been through!—but that was alright. Stopping Sasuke's final, monstrous plan to revolutionize the world and bring him back once and for all was all that mattered.

One thing did linger in Naruto's mind though, and that was their final parting words before he left, **again**, on his personal quest for redemption following his acquittal during his trial...

Naruto watched as Sasuke said his goodbyes to Kakashi and Sakura. Even from far away he could tell that Sakura was offering to go with him. He thought Sasuke was saying something else to her, but he could not make out what it was. Add then he saw him tap her forehead.

That stung. **HARD.** But he wasn't going to throw a fit or overreact; this was what she wanted, and he was just going to have to accept that.

As Sasuke walked down the path away for them he noticed that Naruto was there.

"I didn't think you'd come," he said, looking at him with his Rinnegan still active in his left eye.

Naruto reached into his pocket with his one remaining arm and pulled out an old, raggedly forehead protector, with a kunai scratch spread clean across the Konoha symbol.

"I'm returning this," Naruto said as he held the forehead protector out.

Sasuke looked at the object for a moment before answering, "I'll hold onto this, until we can finally settle things between us."

The two former friends—no, _still_ best friends—smiled at one another as Sasuke took his old headband out of the jinchūriki's hand.

After tucking it back into his pocket, Sasuke proceeded to walk down the path to his redemption, before he stopped one more time and turned to the blonde. What Sasuke said next stopped Naruto dead in his tracks.

"Take good care of her."

Naruto was shocked, and maybe a little bit embarrassed. It was obvious who _she_ was, but why would Sasuke say that? Why now when he knows how she feels? What was that poke on her forehead all about? What did he say to her?

There were so many questions Naruto wanted to ask, but he didn't ask any of them. He didn't need to. Instead, he merely nodded as they parted ways.

For whatever reason, Sasuke had given him his blessing. Whether Sakura wanted him or not, Naruto would never abandon her. He would be there for her, always...

That day had gone through Naruto's brain a lot lately, but with his recent promotion, his surgery to have his new arm attached, and his usual ninja duties, he hadn't had any time to speak to Sakura...frankly he didn't know what to say.

There was another distraction too...

"NARUTOOOOO!"

The blonde turned to see who was calling his name to find a bunch of girls about his age that he didn't know blushing and waving to him excitedly. The first bunch of times it had been fun getting that kind of attention—he was only human after all—but by now it was starting to get annoying. He had absolutely no problem entertain little kids, but when _that_ many girls his age started flirting with him for no other reason than his celebrity status, it seriously was getting old. Hell, one girl he came across was so crazy that she flashed her bare breasts and flung her used panties at him!

'Now I finally understand how Sasuke felt," he thought to himself before he finished his ramen, took a deep sigh and walked over to greet his fan club once again.

But as he walked over there, he remembered a song that he had been listening to over a radio that old man Teuchi set up in the restaurant after the war, to help entertain an ever-increasing influx of customers he and Ayame had been getting since the war, thanks entirely to the enthusiastic free press of their now world famous number one customer.

It was a song that really stuck out in Naruto's head because it reminded him so much of where he and Sakura were in their relationship, whatever that relationship was at this point. He could still hear the melody and the lyrics inside his head right now:

_Here we stand__  
__Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two__  
__Sleepless nights, losing ground__  
__I'm reachin' for you, you, you_

_Feelin' that it's gone__  
__Can change your mind__  
__If we can't go on__  
__To survive the tide love divides_

_Someday love will find you__  
__Break those chains that bind you__  
__One night will remind you__  
__How we touched and went our separate ways__  
__If he ever hurts you__  
__True love won't desert you__  
__You know I still love you__  
__Though we touched and went our separate ways_

_Troubled times__  
__Caught between confusion and pain, pain, pain__  
__Distant eyes__  
__Promises we made were in vain, in vain, vain_

_If you must go, I wish you love__  
__You'll never walk alone__  
__Take care my love__  
__Miss you love_

_Someday love will find you__  
__Break those chains that bind you__  
__One night will remind you__  
__How we touched and went our separate ways__  
__If he ever hurts you__  
__True love won't desert you__  
__You know I still love you__  
__Though we touched and went our separate ways_

_Someday love will find you__  
__Break those chains that bind you__  
__One night will remind you__  
__If he ever hurts you__  
__True love won't desert you__  
__You know I still love you_

_I still love you girl__  
__I really love you girl__  
__And if he ever hurts you__  
__True love won't desert you__  
__No, no_

Naruto smirked to himself as started shaking hands and sighing autographs for his fans. But as he went through the motions with this, one single thought invaded his mind.

'I wonder what Sakura is thinking about right now?'

* * *

Well, what did you think? I know, pretty short right?

This was only meant to be Naruto's version of events leading up to this point; the next chapter will focus on Sakura's perspective.

The song, to which the title directly references, is "Separate Ways (World's Apart)" by Journey. I first heard it on the soundtrack to the film "Tron: Legacy" and, overlooking the simple fact that Journey are just an awesome band regardless, I was impressed at how well it described Naruto and Sakura's relationship by this point in the story, and I am amazed that no one has ever been inspired to edit a NaruSaku AMV to it!

Like my first chapter of "Shinachiku's First Adventure," the flashback to 699 was directly inspired by JTZ29's take on it in his story "Take Good Care of Her," as will the next chapter as well. I was satisfied with how he handled the scene in his story so that it serviced a NaruSaku story and still maintained much of the original intention of what the scene was.

Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed the read, and I hope to see you back for the next one!


	2. Chapter 2--I Don't Deserve You

Hey guys, thesaiyanjedi again. Wow! Two chapters in one night!

As promised, this chapter will delve into Sakura's perspective on things, be prepared for some angsty drama.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy, and I'll see you for the next one!

* * *

**Chapter 2: I Don't Deserve You**

Sakura Haruno was at her home, in her bedroom straightening up her room. It was her day off from the hospital today and she really didn't have any plans.

'Hmm...maybe I should go find Ino and ask her how her date with Sai went?'

She still could not believe it when her best friend had confided in her that she had developed a crush on her pale-skinned teammate. Sure, she remembered her clearly being into him when they first met, but she just assumed that she saw him as superficially as she did every other guy. Besides, she said herself that he reminded her of Sasuke.

'Sasuke...'

That name always stirred a wave of conflicted emotion inside Sakura's heart, but _especially_ now. Not because of what they had been through, but because of the last thing he said to her before he left her yet again...

* * *

"So, this is your final decision then?" Kakashi asked.

"It is," Sasuke answered.

The newly-appointed Sixth Hokage sighed before conceding, "Very well, just don't loose sight on how lucky you are Sasuke."

"How _lucky_ I am?"

"Well, to be honest, under any normal circumstances, you would have been locked away, imprisoned for life. The only reason your wishes are being entertained and all of your actions are now pardoned is because your aid was instrumental in dispelling the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Of course, even that wouldn't have gotten you off the hook by itself, this is mainly thanks to the support from the hero and central force in ending the war, Naruto and myself as Hokage. Make sure you keep that in mind. So try to keep yourself under control, yeah...? Cause it'll be _my_ ass on the line this time."

"Yeah...sorry," Sasuke said sincerely but without frowning.

Sakura looked to the young man in nervous distress, "You're really going to leave? Lady Tsunade is just about finished crafting you artificial arm out of Hashirama's cells."

Sasuke looked at her, "Right now, I need to see this world for myself. I must know what kind of state this world is in. I feel like I'm finally able to see all the things that I've overlooked and messed up until now, and if I don't seize this opportunity, I might miss my chance to see with this kind of clarity again. On top of that, there's a few things that have been on my mind."

Sakura took in what he said, before a blush graced her face and she was unable to make eye contact at what she was about to say. "Well...what if...I asked you...to take me with you?"

"No Sakura," Sasuke said firmly, causing her to look back at him. "This is a journey of redemption for me, my sins have nothing to do with you."

Sakura hung her head in shame as she heard that, "Nothing to do...with me...?" she said lost. Kakashi looked at her in pity.

"Besides..." Sasuke continued, bringing her back to attention. "You need to find you own path Sakura. You need to look deep inside yourself and figure out what it is you _really_ want."

Sakura was taken aback by what he had just said. What did he mean 'what she _really_ wanted?' She wanted **him**! She had wanted him her whole life! They were perfect for each weren't they...? Weren't they...?

There were a million and one questions flashing through the poor girl's mind in that moment, and she wanted to ask all of them right then and there...But she never got to. The next thing she knew Sasuke had tapped her broad forehead with his fingers, right where her recently formed Strength of a Hundred Seal adorned it.

"I'll be back soon...and thank you."

Sakura was speechless. His words were friendly, polite, sincere and grateful, all emotions that even she had to admit she so rarely saw from Sasuke. In the past she would have taken this action as romantic...So why _didn't_ she?

Oh yes, she was deep in thought all right, but it wasn't about what he just did to her. She was still processing what he told her earlier.

But she put it to rest as she and Kakashi watched their old teammate walk off towards his new destiny...only to be stopped by Naruto.

'Naruto,' Sakura thought to herself upon seeing him. 'I didn't think he would even be here today...What am I thinking, of course he'd be here.'

She looked on as the two most important boys—no, _men_—in her life exchanged their last words. They were so far off in the distance that she couldn't make out what was happening, but it looked like Naruto was handing over...

'No way!' Sakura gasped. Tears never fell from her eyes, but they were gathering as the blonde handed his best friend back his old Leaf Village headband. The scene was...well, it was beautiful. It was like the good old days of Team 7 made new again. Finally the three of them were together again, things were back the way they should be...

* * *

"Who am I kidding?" Sakura said aloud to herself. "Too much has changed. I've changed, Sasuke's changed, Naruto's changed...Face it girl, we may be together again, but _that_ Team 7 is in the past."

And indeed it was true, she could see it so clearly now for the first time. The Sasuke she knew, that cool, lonely boy who she always imagined spending the rest of her life with..._that_ Sasuke was gone.

For too long now that boy has been a primary driving force for everything she did. She wanted to become a kunoichi. Why? To get close to Sasuke. She wanted to get stronger. Why? To help bring Sasuke back home.

...At least, those were the initial reasons. She got into this life for a boy, yes, but she _stayed_ in it for herself! She became Tsunade's apprentice not just to get strong enough to bring back Sasuke but to help Naruto in that goal, yes. But the more she learned, the more she trained, the more she realized her natural gift and potential as a medical ninja, the more she _wanted_ that life! _Really_ wanted it!

'Just like Naruto always wanted to be Hokage.' Sakura smiled to herself as the thought that.

She went over to her dresser and picked up an old framed photo, one taken back on their first day together as Team 7. The three of them were so innocent back then, everything was so much simpler. She was still just a starry-eyed girl with a big brain and a big heart, but little real ambition. Meanwhile Sasuke was still that cool loner, top of his class, danamic, good looking, everything an impressionable girl his age wanted...

And then there was _him_...Her other teammate. The blonde knucklehead in the hideous orange jumpsuit. The boy she had spent her entire childhood berating and beating and belittling for everything he did, most of all his longstanding dream of becoming the next Hokage. Everyone knew that was just some silly fantasy. It was impossible. He was a nobody, dead last, an idiotic loser with no potential to ever amount to _anything_! Sakura knew it, she _believed_ it, just like everybody else, especially with someone as awesome as Sasuke right there!

...But you know what? She was wrong. _Everyone_ was wrong. He spent his whole life proving it! He defied the odds and, with the help and support of his friends, he'd spent the last five years of his life growing from the village's monster into the most famous shinobi in the world, and he was only seventeen!

The blonde-haired doofus she used to chastise all the time was now a living legend, and he deserved all of it! He worked for everything, _everything_ he's gained. Sure, he may be the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, but that was just a horrible burden that he needed to saddle and overcome his whole life. Sure, he may be the son of Fourth Hokage, but he didn't know that until Pain attacked the village, _nobody_ did...If they had, things surely would have been a lot different for him. But you know what, as horrible as it may sound, it was **better** that he didn't know until so late! Why? Because it made him not lazy! Because it allowed him to forge his own path, not ride his father's coattails all his life like Sasuke got to do as the last of the Uchiha clan.

Naruto Uzumaki may be a total buffoon...but he was also the strongest, bravest, most compassionate and selfless human being she'd ever known. She couldn't even keep couldn't of how many people's lives have been changed for the better just because of his influence.

Oh yeah, Sakura was wrong about him all right...and she couldn't be happier that she was!

...Of course, that only served to make it all the more painful whenever she thought back on their relationship. All the verbal yells and putdowns, all the beatings and rejections, that stuff was bad enough. But what really did her in were all the times she'd taken his friendship for granted. When Sasuke left the village to join Orochimaru, she'd _begged_ for Naruto to bring him home because she was too damned weak to stop him herself! He could have said no, he could have told her off right there, but instead he made a selfless promise of a lifetime to bring him back, just to make her happy.

And because of that he had to endure years of torturous failure, heartbreak, disappointment, all for _her_ sake! Yes, she trained with Tsunade to get stronger so that she would be able to help him next time, so that she would stop being a burden...but she always was anyway! No mater what happened, there was never anything she could do for him but small, insignificant things that anyone could do! He nearly **died** to keep that stupid promise! And she **HATED** herself for that!

That's why she lied to him that day in the Land of Iron. It wasn't to exploit him, or to make a fool of him, it was the **save** him! Sasuke needed to be dealt with, soon! And she needed to say something before the idiot got himself **killed**! Of course, that's saying nothing about the mess her actions caused in the wake of all that—

**"AAAGGGHHHH!"** Sakura grabbed her own head in anger the more she thought about all of this. Soon there was a knock on her door.

"Sakura, sweetie? Is everything alright?" Mebuki asked through the door.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine mom. Thanks."

"Oh, okay. Just let me know if you need anything okay?"

"Okay."

Knowing that her mother was gone, she picked up the old photo of Team 7 again, here eyes zeroing not on her childhood crush, but on the orange clad ninja who was driving her totally crazy.

'...Naruto...'

He looked so young and goofy back then, his annoyed expression almost laughable to her now. She never admitted it, but that boy always had a knack for making her smile. Hell, for all the stern lecturing she used to give him back at the Academy, Inner Sakura found his practical jokes to be pretty funny.

She looked at the photo of the young Naruto and found herself comparing it to the young man she knew now. His sterner face, his fit built, those ripped muscles—yeah, her mind was wandering!

But the point was that the more she thought about it, the more something became clear. Whatever her feelings for her best friend were...she didn't deserve him.

'What are you thinking Sakura?! He may be the biggest doofus on the planet, and as lazy as a sloth, and he may be the loudest, most annoying boy you've ever met in you're life...but he's also the best friend you've ever had. And anybody whose gone through so much and worked so hard deserves all the happiness in the world...'

She placed her hand on the photo of Team 7, as a single tear ran down her face.

'Naruto...you deserve to be with someone who can make you happy...and that isn't me.'

Sakura set the photo down on her bed and more tears fell and landed on it. The poor girl cried herself to sleep for the rest of the night...

* * *

Yep! Sakura's got one heck of a guilt complex at this point. Given the events of the series it seems the most logical progression to me, and the number one thing that would keep her back from maybe giving her and Naruto a chance. We'll see what the resolution of this will be later.

Once again, major credit to JTZ29's story "Take Good Care of Her" for providing me some direct motivation for the flashback to 699.

I think that's all I've got to say. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope you're looking forward to next time. So, until next time, see ya!


	3. Chapter 3--Date With Destiny

Hey guys, thesaiyanjedi back again with the next chapter of Heaven and Earth Together At Last."

This chapter will see the depiction of something I have referenced a couple of times in my past stories. To my fellow NaruSaku shippers, I know that the events of this chapter might surprise you, but don't worry I am going somewhere with it.

Well, with that disclaimer out of the way, let's get to reading!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Date with Destiny**

"Naruto!"

The blonde stopped in his tracks as he heard the voice 'Oh great! Another fan!' He sighed as he turned around. "Oh...hey Konohamaru."

The young Genin ran up to his idol with a huge grin on his face. "Hey boss! Have you heard the news!"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "What news?"

"Sasuke is coming back in a few days!"

Naruto's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. "_W-What?!_ _**REALLY?!**_"

"Yep, Ebisu-sensei told me that Lord Sixth told him and the other Jōnin in a meeting yesterday. He said it came in via private messenger hawk!"

A large vein appeared on the blonde's forehead, "Really...? You think he'd want to tell me about this first."

"Wait?" Konohamaru stopped in confusion, "You mean that Sakura hasn't told you?"

"S-Sakura already knew?"

"That's what I've heard going around. I'm surprised that she hadn't told you."

"...I'm not surprised."

The boy looked at the young man's sullen expression and took the hint that now was probably not to right time to dwell on this too much further. "I-I'm sorry Nii-chan."

"It's okay kid...The truth is that Sakura and I haven't seen each other since my operation."

"Huh? But that was months ago. Aren't you two getting along?"

"...I don't know kid."

Konohamaru figured that he'd better get out of there before it got any more awkward. "Right...well listen, I'd better get going, I've got an escort mission with my team in about a hour from now."

Naruto merely nodded his head in acknowledgement as the boy waved him goodbye.

The blonde Chūnin sighed out loud. 'Maybe I should go talk to her about...No! If Sasuke's coming back home then she's going to be too busy spending time with him to care about me.'

Naruto's chain of thought was broken when he heard a high-pitched whistle get his attention. He turned to the source of the noise to find a shady-looking man with shabby-looking clothes and a thin mustache calling Naruto over to him.

Naruto looked around at first before pointing to himself to confirm if he meant him, to which the shabby man nodded. With suspicion, he walked over to the shabby man to see what he wanted.

"Hey there kid," the stranger said, "I couldn't help overhearing you're having problems with a lady friend. Thinking she's got a thing for another guy huh?"

"I really don't want to talk about it."

"That's alright. But I just wanted to say that I've got something here that can help you out."

The stranger pulled out a bottle of pills. "Here, take one of these every couple of hours and it will cause all of your problems to go away."

Naruto narrowed his eyes sternly, "Are you _seriously_ pawning drugs on me?"

"I prefer to think of them as 'anti-depressants.'"

"You have no idea who I am, do you?"

"Should I, kid?"

"Yeah, you should! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

The stranger looked like the blood had drained from his face as he dropped the pills in panic. "T-**The** Naruto Uzumaki! The Nine-Tails! The war hero!"

"That's right! And as a shinobi of Konohagakure, I have the right to turn you in for drug trafficking, to minors no less! Ands since I'm pretty much the most respected ninja in the village and the Hokage just so happens to be my old sensei, that doesn't bode well for you sir."

The stranger panicked and ran the opposite way as fast as he could move. But it didn't matter as Naruto merely dashed in front of him with his now inhuman speed, then made a ton of shadow clones that cornered him and pinned him down.

The blonde and his clones escorted the struggling suspect to the village police station and brought him right up to the captain. "Book this guy would you?"

"Under what charge?" the captain asked.

"Selling illegal drug to minors. Here's the evidence." He had one of his clones place the confiscated bottle of pills on the captain's desk.

The captain opened the bottle and examined them. "Hmm...pretty heavy stuff all right. Looks like you're going to be serving some hard time pal."

The captain signaled for two shinobi to cuff the stranger and take him away, Naruto grinning smugly at him all the way.

"Nice work kiddo," a voice said behind Naruto, causing to blonde to turn around to see who it was.

"Kaka—I mean, Lord Hokage!"

"Please, you don't need to be so formal with me Naruto."

"Sensei," Naruto nodded in his trademark enthusiasm.

"So, have you heard about Sasuke coming back in a few days?"

"Yeah, Konohamaru told me about it...Sensei, how come you told Sakura about it and not me?"

"My schedule was full so I asked Saukra to tell you for me...Why? She didn't say anything to you?"

"I haven't seen her all day."

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask, "Interesting...Naruto, when was the last time you and Sakura spoke?"

"Not since my operation to get my new arm attached. Why?"

"Naruto, is something going on between you two?"

The young man blushed at his old master's question, "W-What do you mean?"

"Its never been like you to stay distant from her, and its not like her to keep secrets from you."

"...She has before," the boy muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing sensei."

Kakashi put a hand on his former student's shoulder, "Listen Naruto, you and Sakura are two of the finest ninjas I've ever trained. I've watched both of you grow and change so much and go through so much together. I realize that a lot has changed recently, but I think the two of you need to bury the hatchet and make amends."

The boy could only look downcast at what he'd just heard. "I...I don't know sensei. Sasuke's coming home soon, and I've fulfilled my promise to her...Maybe it's for the best I just back off. Sakura's made up her mind that she wants him and has no reason to spend time with me anymore. Maybe I was never anything but the rebound guy. A stand-in to be her friend until Sasuke got back. And now that Sasuke _is_ back...maybe she'd rather things between us just go back to the way they were."

"That's not true."

"Naruto actually seemed generally confused. "What do you mean?"

Kakashi actually sighed in irritation, "Still as dense as ever I see. Listen Naruto, I need to get back to the office, but I want you to promise me something."

"Umm...sure. What's that sensei?"

"Whatever is holding you back, find a way to make peace and move on from it."

Naruto didn't do or say anything for several seconds before giving the masked Hokage an enthusiastic thumbs up. "You've got it Kakashi-sensei!"

* * *

It's been several hours since his conversation with Kakashi, and Naruto sat on a bench by the street with his head hung back, still deep in thought. He supposed that he should be spending his time on the training grounds getting a good day's exercise in, but his heart just wasn't into it right now.

The poor boy had lost track of time and didn't even notice another presence approaching him.

"N-Naruto?"

He lifted his head up to see a beautiful girl his age with long, dark blue hair, fair skin, an oversized lavender jacket to disguise her impressive feminine form, and a pair of lovely white eyes.

"Hinata?" Naruto sat up in her presence. "Hi, umm...what are you doing here?"

"Oh, umm...I was just doing some errands for my father and I saw you sitting here all by yourself."

"Oh."

"Umm...Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

The girl was nervous...very nervous, but unlike during their youth the blonde was able to recognize it this time.

"May I...umm..." The teenage girl presses her fingertips together in worry about what she was going to ask. "May I...sit next to you."

Hinata was blushing like mad. She could not believe she just asked him that! She felt like she was going to die of embarrassment right there!

"Yeah, sure thing Hinata." He scooted down the opposite side of bench to make room for her, treating it like it was no big deal.

"O-Okay!" Hinata hectically sat down on the bench net to him while she still had the nerve.

A solid minute passed in awkward silence. Neither one was saying anything to the other, Hinata because of her own shyness, and Naruto because he had too much on his mind at the moment.

Eventually, Naruto was the one to break the ice. "So...how've you been?"

"Oh, I've been fine, thank you Naruto," she bowed in respect.

"You don't need to be so uptight around me Hinata. Loosen up! Relax a little bit!"

"G-Gomen!"

Hinata did relax her muscles a bit more, much to Naruto's relief.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah?"

"I'm proud of you."

"Huh? For what?"

"All you're life I've been watching you, seeing you grow up into a wonderful, strong, handsome young man, and now that the war is over the whole world can see it too."

Naruto actually smiled warmly at the girl's sincerity, "Thank you Hinata..."

But then Naruto remembered the war and couldn't help but bring up an elephant in the room. "Hey Hinata?"

"Y-Yes?"

"How have you been doing since...you know?"

The girl frowned and put her head down, "Since Neji's funeral?"

Naruto, likewise, put his own head down, "Yeah."

"I've been alright. My cousin's in a better place now, and I know he's finally found peace." Tears gathered in the girl's eyes as she continued. "I miss him every day Naruto. It just doesn't feel the same without him."

"I'm sure he'd want you to be happy Hinata."

She looked up a the boy next to her, "You too Naruto. He considered you a true friend."

He noticed that Hinata had actually taken his hand in hers as she said that, though it didn't seem that _she_ noticed it herself.

Something came back into Naruto's memory, something he had to admit that he hadn't thought about for a long time. He thought back to the day Pain invaded the village, when he engaged the Akatsuki leader (or rather, the person he _thought_ was the Akatsuki leader) in the ruins of his homeland, until Pain literally had him pinned to the ground. And then, out of nowhere, Hinata came to his defense all by herself, to a fight she knew full well that she could not win. That's when she said it, the confession that he never saw coming in all the years they'd known each other...She said she **loved** him.

Hinata almost got herself killed after that, which made Naruto totally loose control of Kurama, turning him into a monstrosity that he almost never returned from, had his own father not stepped in.

That was a long time ago now...and he just realized that he never did get to talking to her about it.

"Hinata?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Do you remember what you told me that day Pain invaded the village?"

The bluenette blushed as red as a tomato. Of course she remembered, but she wasn't expecting _him_ to be the one to have to bring it up. "Y-Y-Yes, I remember."

"Well, I was wondering...would you...?"

"Yes?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Would you like to go out with me tonight? You know, like on a date?"

Hinata thought she was going to pass out. Finally, **FINALLY**, the boy of her dreams was asking her out! 'Don't faint! Don't faint! Don't faint! Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!'

"Hinata?" Naruto asked in reaction to her odd behavior.

"Yes."

"I asked if you'd—"

"No, I meant yes, I'll go out with you!" Hinata yelled, as if she was gathering all the courage she had and letting it all out at once just for this one thing.

Naruto smiled as he got up off the bench, "Great! I'll pick you up at your house at 8 o'clock!"

"Gomen Naruto!" Hinata said in an uncharacteristic amount of excitement.

As Naruto started walking home, he was excited for tonight—Who wouldn't be? Hinata was a very beautiful woman after all!—But he also frowned, hard, as he made it to his apartment.

'I'm sorry Sakura...but you've moved on...and now so do I.'

* * *

Naruto arrived at the Hyūga Estate by 8 o'clock, just like he'd promised. He was dressed in the nicest clothes he had and was ready to show Hinata a good time tonight.

Two clan members stood guard at the entrance, but stood aside upon recognizing who he was—yet another sign of how much respect the boy now had within the village...That, or Hinata's father knew about their date and ordered the guards to let him in when he got there.

After going through the garden and training area, Naruto knocked on the door. He waited patiently until Hiashi Hyūga slid it open and stared at him, sternly.

"Naruto Uzumaki?"

"H-Hai sir. I'm here to see—"

"I know why you are here. She's waiting for you. Just promise me that you won't do anything to break her heart tonight...or I **will** find you boy. Do I make myself clear?"

Naruto actually gulped. Hiashi's threat was so monotone, so cold, that it scarred even him. "H-Hai sir."

Without saying anything else, Hiashi opened the door all the way to let Naruto in. Thankfully, Hinata's mother was a lot more polite to him, as was her sister Hanabi.

Eventually, Hinata was ready to go. She came out in a very nice, but not overly formal, violet top and light violet skirt. "I'm ready to go Naruto."

"Great, let's go have fun!" He took her hand, which Hinata reacted to much more calmly this time. And with a last wave to her family, the two kids were off on their date.

They had a great time. He took her to dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in the village (that was still within his budget of course), where they talked, laughed, and caught up on old times. Then they watched the stars together on top of the Hokage Mountain, enjoying the beautiful sky that overlooked the busy village that lay below.

Hinata was having the time of her life...but she couldn't shake her gut instinct that Naruto wasn't. He'd been noticeably less talkative than she'd expected him to be all night, and he always looked like he had something on his mind that, try as he might, he just couldn't shake.

"Naruto?"

"Yes Hinata?"

"I had a great time tonight."

"Yeah, me too..."

"Then why haven't you been acting like it?"

"W-What?"

"I'm a lot of things Naruto but I'm not foolish. You've had something on your mind all night. You can share it with me if you want."

"No, no don't worry about it Hinata. It's just something I need to work out on my own—"

"It's about Sakura isn't it?"

Naruto was totally taken aback. How could she possibly have known...?

"I told you I'm not foolish. I've always known how much she means to you."

Naruto let out a very deep sigh as he hung his head. "I'm sorry Hinata. I don't know what I'm thinking. I'm trying to move on from Sakura now that Sasuke's coming back."

Hinata looked like she'd just heard a ghost whisper in her ear, "What do you mean 'move on?'"

The blonde swallowed his pride and laid everything out in front of Hinata. "I made Sakura a promise of a lifetime, to bring back Sasuke, and even though it took me all these years I finally kept that promise. Sakura can finally have what she's always wanted. She doesn't need to spend anymore of her time with a blonde knucklehead like me, she can move on with her life now. I mean..." he looked straight at the Hyūga heiress, "I mean what chance did some loser like me ever have against the great Sasuke Uchiha? He was a genius, the last off a great clan; I was just some poor moron who got really lucky. Why would I have ever thought that Sakura would want to be with me, when she's got him...But yeah, that's all in the past! Whatever my feelings for her might have been, I'm ready to move on now and—"

_SLAP!_

In an instant, Naruto's rant was interrupted and he found himself on the ground. He looked up with his hand cupping his now reddened cheek to see a fuming angry Hinata Hyūga.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

"What?"

"Who are you?! I don't know who you are, but you're **not** Naruto!"

"Yes I am—"

"**No you're not!** The Naruto I know is committed, determined, knows _exactly_ what it is he wants and would **never** give up on anything, **especially** those he loves!"

"Hinata, I—"

"I hate people who lie to themselves!"

That did it...that snapped him. Everything he'd been telling himself, everything he'd convinced himself, all of it...undone in one familiar line.

"The person," she continued, "the _thing_ I'm looking at now...you're not the same boy who never gave up on his dreams. You're not the same boy who always held onto his unbridled sense of optimism and joy and courage no matter how bleak the world got. You're **not** the boy I fell in love with! You...are...**not**...Naruto Uzumaki!"

As Naruto stared at her, Hinata steeled herself for what she was about to say next.

"And if spending the rest of my life with you means having to see you live a lie for the rest of your life..." she paused, "then I'd much rather let you go."

Naruto was dumbstruck. Hinata had just broken up with him, and yet that wasn't even what was on his mind at the moment. His mind was focused on everything else she was saying.

'She's...she's right. What the hell am I saying?! I once threw Sakura away because I thought she was lying to herself, and now here I am doing the same thing...Well, **screw that!** I can't just throw mine and Sakura's relationship away! Not after everything we've been through! All those years weren't for nothing, I **know** they weren't! So what if Sasuke's coming back home?! I can still tell her how I feel! If she doesn't want me, fine! That's her choice! But I'm not going to settle for never being a part of her life again! I've never given up on her before and I'll be damned if I'm going to give up on her now! Not without a fight!'

Hinata noticed the gears turning in Naruto's head as he continued to lay there on the ground, taking in everything she'd just beaten into his skull. She saw the wide grin of determination appear on his face.

'That's more like it,' she thought proudly to herself as she kneeled down to his eye level. "Now let me ask you again: Who are you?"

The blonde-haired boy stood up, pumped his bandaged, artificial hand in the air, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I am Naruto Uzumaki, ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village and soon to be Seventh Hokage! And I never give up on my dreams, that's part of my nindo, my ninja way!"

Hinata smiled with pride as she stood back up, "_Now_ you're the Naruto I love."

Naruto quickly embraced Hinata in a huge, almost bone-breaking hug. He told you "Thank you" over and over again, and Hinata merely closed her eyes and embraced the hug. Even if they were never going to be together, she could at least cherish this moment.

Naruto finally let her go, "I'm sorry Hinata. You must think I'm the scum of the Earth for all this—"

"No Naruto, quite the opposite. I'm happy."

_"Happy?!"_

"Yes, I'm happy because I was able to help you get back to who you really are. To help you realize your true feelings. To help you remember how much Sakura really means to you."

"But Hinata—"

"Naruto, does Sakura make you happy?"

Naruto paused, thought about it just for a moment, and smiled, "Yes."

"Then go get her. Go get whatever it is that makes you happy Naruto. You never deserved anything less."

Guilt crept back into Naruto mind, "But Hinata, what about you?"

She then gathered all of her courage, wrapped him in a soft hug...and kissed him right on the lips. Naruto stood there stunned as she did this, while Hinata closed her eyes and savored the kiss...the first and only one they'd ever share.

When she eventually broke the kiss, she smiled and answered his question, "Don't worry about me. I'll be by your side always Naruto. Whenever you need me, I'll be there for you. And when you and Sakura do get together, I'll support you two. If I have to loose you to anybody, I'm glad it's her."

Naruto, after finally getting over the shock from that kiss, touched Hinata's cheek gently, "Arigato, Hinata."

The two shinobi finally broke apart, facts accepted, heartbreaks forgiven, and a friendship solidified forever...Still, one does have to wonder whether, in another life, things maybe could have been different...

Hinata suddenly saw Naruto's face get pale, "What's wrong Naruto?"

"It's just...you know your dad's going to murder me when he finds out about all of this, right?"

Hinata chuckled before putting on an uncharacteristically evil smirk, "That's alright, if my father has a problem, he can take it up with **me**!"

* * *

And with that, Naruto's feelings for Sakura are renewed! I hope you all enjoyed that chapter.

About the NaruHina date, this is something I had planted as far back as the first chapter of "Shinachiku's First Adventure." I wanted to show that I mean no disrespect to the NiaruHina fans by offering them a NaruSaku ending that nevertheless could provide them the closure that I felt that we NaruSaku fans _didn't_ get from either the final two chapters or "The Last: Naruto the Movie." I felt that using Hinata in this capacity would be very honorable and respectful of her, and still be in character despite, in this universe at least, she doesn't end up getting the guy she wants.

Well, not much more to say other than I hope you all liked it, and I hope to see you back for the next one!


	4. Chapter 4--Reflections Of

What'sup everyone, thesaiyanjedi here once again!

Well, NaruSaku Day is almost upon us, and to that end, I present you all with latest chapter of "Heaven and Earth Together At Last."

Okay, I realize that I have been getting some criticism about how angsty this story has been so far and I'm not going to say that I don't deserve it. But this is all stuff that I had set up in my other work, primarily "Shinachiku's First Adventure," and I really do feel that if Naruto and Sakura were going to finally get together after the series, then, sadly, there would be a few issues that they'd need to work out first.

Don't worry though, the next chapter will, ultimately, be what we all came here for. And even this chapter has an ending revelation that I hope many of you will enjoy.

Also, I should say right up front that there is a scene near the end that is a direct adaptation of somebody else's fan work, which I intend totally out of respect and tribute to the original artist, hence why I will credit them at the end of this chapter.

With all of that said, let's get to reading!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Reflections Of...**

"Hey Sakura!"

The pinkette turned her head at the sound a familiar voice. "Oh, hey Ino."

The platinum blonde kunoichi ran up to her best friend in an even more bubbly mood than usual, and Sakura already knew exactly why. "So, I'm guessing your date with Sai went well huh?"

"Oh yeah!" Ino exclaimed. "He was such a gentleman! Almost always knowing the right things to say too!"

To say Sakura was dumbstruck would be an understatement. "Wait, _Sai_ knew the right things to say?!"

"I know, I couldn't believe it either. But he really tried last night. I-I can't explain it but...Sakura..."

"...Yeah?"

"I think I'm falling in love."

Once again Sakura's eyes widened, "_Really?!_ Wow! That's amazing! Y'know I figured I'd do you a favor and set you two up when you admitted to me that you had a crush on him. But I never imagined this!"

"I know..." Ino put her hand over her heart and let out a deep sigh, "I don't think I've ever felt this happy before, certainly not since dad died." She then gave her best friend a massive hug, "Thank you so much Sakura!"

Sakura eagerly returned the hug, "Don't mention it pig. We've both wasted a lot of years chasing after the same guy, I figured it was time for things to change."

Ino broke the hug, "Well, at the very least you don't have to worry about my competition for Sasuke anymore."

Sakura couldn't help but frown at hearing the boy's name. "Yeah, right."

Ino noticed this sudden change in demeanor. "Hey forehead, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine."

The blonde merely scoffed, "You never were a very good liar."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! You can't lie to a woman who can read minds!" She saw a outdoor cafe with an available table and two chairs. "Come! Sit!"

She dragged Sakura by the arm, under the pinkette's protest, and sat her down at the table. Ino then signaled to the waitress, "Tea please?"

The waitress nodded and went to get their tea, while Ino just stared holes into Sakura's skull. "Okay, spill! What's going on?!"

"Nothing's going on! Mind your own business for once pig!"

"Na-uh! You went out of your way to hook me up with a great guy, so if you're having problems with you're man than I'm here for you."

"Sasuke's not my man!"

Sakura instantly cupped her hands over her mouth at what she just said.

"Wait—_What?!_ But you're _obsessed_ with Sasuke!"

"I know, I know! But...I'm not...I'm not sure...**Agh!** I don't even know anymore!"

The Slug Sannin's apprentice put her head in her hand and leaned over the table.

Ino had no idea what to say or what suddenly could have happened to make Sakura so conflicted. All she knew was that this was her best friend and she needed to do something.

She reached out and put her hands on Sakura's shoulders. "Hey, easy girl. It's okay. We can talk this thing out, just the two of us."

Sakura looked up at the blonde-haired florist, tears just developing in her eyes, as she managed a nod, then dried her eyes again and sat back up in her chair.

By now the waitress had come back with their tea. They both thanked her and gave her an early tip, then after she left both girls got to talking.

"So," Ino started, "have you heard the rumor going around that Sasuke's coming back tomorrow?"

"...Yeah, I heard. Kakashi-sensei told me himself."

"I guess it's appropriate that you and Naruto would be the first of us to know."

Sakura set down her tea cup, "Actually...Naruto wasn't there. Kakashi-sensei asked me to find him and tell him myself."

"Oh! And how'd he take it?"

Sakura shifted her eyes to herself, "I wouldn't know."

Now Ino had to set down her tea cup, "What do you mean?"

"I mean...I didn't tell him."

"What?! Why not?"

"I don't know! I just couldn't bring myself to tell him, okay?! It was too...awkward."

Ino arched an eyebrow at Sakura's choice of words. _"Awkward?"_

Sakura looked at her best friend with one of her signature looks of annoyance. "You're not going to let this go until I've told you everything, are you?"

"Of course I'm not, you know me better than that by now."

"Don't you have to get back to the flower shop?"

"Oh don't worry about that, my mom can cover my shift today...Oh darn it! They need you back at the hospital today, don't they?"

Sakura wanted to jump for joy. Ino herself had just provided her with a perfect way out of this...But wouldn't you know it, her damned conscious got the better of her!

"No, Lady Tsunade gave me only a half-shift today and I just got off."

"Great, then its just the two of us!"

"Yeah...great..."

* * *

Several minutes and a few refills of tea later and Sakura had pretty much outlined her entire situation to Ino, who could only sit there and take it all in awe.

"Wow...No wonder you're such a mess!"

"Hey!"

"Sorry, but people with unresolved guild complexes like yours are often prone to doing some pretty extreme things, including—"

"I'm a doctor Ino! I know all about that!"

Ino sighed and folded her arms, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. When are you going to talk to Naruto?"

Sakura looked in confusion, "Talk to him?"

Ino smacked her own forehead, "Jeez! Forehead you really are hopeless! I mean when are you going to go talk to Naruto about how you really feel about him?"

Sakura blushed red as a tomato. _"WHAT?!"_

"Yeah! You heard me! You don't get to sit here and outline your whole dilemma, going on and on about how awesome and wonderful Naruto is and how guilty you are about how you've treated him in the past, and then tell me you don't have feelings for him!"

"Of course I have feelings for him...! As a friend! My best friend...! Best _guy_ friend!"

"Now you're just embarrassing yourself."

Sakura slouched in her chair, "I know." She sighed. "I just...Naruto deserves so much better than me...**Hinata!** She's loved him since they were little kids, we all know it! She'd deserves him far more than I do!"

"Yeah, she definitely does, but then again, isn't that supposed to be _his_ decision?" Ino stated.

After waiting about ten seconds in silence, Sakura finally spoke again, "Ino, can I tell you something?"

"Sure thing Sakura. What is it?"

Sakura straightened up again and began speaking, "When I was still a Genin I used to hate Naruto's guts; I thought he was just an annoying pest who lived to bother me and stand in the way of my future with Sasuke. I used to wonder how much better my life would be if Naruto wasn't there. Well, last night I had a dream, and I dreamed about exactly that. I saw a future where Sasuke was there, you were there, all of our friends were there, but Naruto _wasn't_ there. We'd totally fallen apart and our lives went totally different paths. He became Hokage like he always wanted, and I was married to Sasuke like I always wanted."

"And I'm guessing that made you happy?"

"No, it didn't! I **HATED** that life! What I saw was me, at home, forced to raise a family all by myself while Sasuke was constantly leaving the village again and again. I didn't even see myself as a medial ninja anymore, I had to quit my job and turn my back on everything Lady Tsunade ever taught me just to be a stay-at-home mom!"

"Wow...that must have sucked. But isn't that how you always imagined your future with Sasuke being?"

"No, it isn't! It isn't at **all** what I thought it would be! I wanted us to be together and to raise a family, sure! But I wanted him at **home**, with **me**, with the **kids**! Not wandering the world alone just to redeem himself for past sins! But that wasn't even the worst part!"

"Oh? What was the worst part?"

"The worst part was how unhappy all of us seemed. I was unhappy because I was alone. My kids were unhappy because their father was never home. Nobody smiled, especially not since..." Sakura couldn't finish her sentence, but she didn't need to, Ino had figured it out for her.

"Because _he_ wasn't there to make you smile anymore."

The pink-haired kunoichi nodded sadly, "Yeah."

Ino slammed her hands down on the table loudly, "Well, that settles it then! You need to find Naruto next time you see him and have a nice, long talk with him! You can't keep living like this!"

Something came over Sakura then. Her eyes narrowed and her fits clenched, "You know what pig...you're right! Naruto and I have been through too much for me to just throw that all away now!

"Atta girl!" Ino proclaimed, "Go tell the blonde doofus how you really feel!"

With that, Sakura stood up from the table, "Well, thank you for that talk Ino, I actually feel better now."

"Anytime forehead!" The two young women gave each other one more hug before parting ways.

"Hey!" Sakura said before heading the other way, "let me know how things go between you and Sai! I want to hear all about it! And I'm so happy for you two!"

With that, the two women waved goodbye and headed their separate ways, but Ino could not help the smirk that graced her face.

'Way to go Sakura! It's about time you woke up and realized how perfect you two are for each other!'

* * *

Sakura was making her way back home when she decided to do a little bit of shopping, just her usual medical and ninja supplies. But as he left the store, she came across a very familiar face.

"Lady Tsunade!" she waved to her former master.

The elderly (though you'd never know it with the jutsu she uses to de-age herself) former Hokage and Sannin looked over to the source of the voice and smiled at the sight of her star pupil.

"Well hello there Sakura! How are you today?"

"I'm feeling better than I was before, thank you very much m'lady!"

"What, was there something wrong?"

"Oh, umm...well, I've just had things on my mind recently is all. But I'm feeling better now and I know what I need to do about it!"

"I see, so you're finally going to come clean with Naruto are you?"

"SENSEI?!" Sakura yelled in shock.

"Oh come off it Sakura! You may not have realized it yet, but I've learned to read you two like a book! I've seen the way you two get along. You're so much like me and Jiraiya that it's almost scary."

"Umm...I'm not sure I know what you—"

"Sakura, I know how much you mean to Naruto."

"Yes, but—"

"And I know that you feel the same way!"

"What?! But—"

"When Sasuke left the village, who gave you their word that they'd bring him home?"

"Naruto."

"And whenever your life was in danger and you still weren't advanced enough to help yourself, who was always there to save you?"

"Naruto."

"When you were down, who was always able to make you smile?"

"Naruto."

"Who always supported you through think and thin, no matter what trials you faced?"

"Naruto."

"And when you first asked to become my apprentice, when you tried taking it upon yourself to stop Saskue's decent into evil, when you wanted so desperately to get stronger and learn anything you could to stop being a burden, you did it to bring back Sasuke, yes, but what _else_ did you do it for?"

Naruto smiled warmly, "To help and protect Naruto. To help him reach his dream. To never be a burden to him ever again."

Tsunade offered her own warm smile as she looked her pupil square in the eyes. "Sakura, I've made plenty of mistakes in my life and I've lost a lot of people I loved. One person in particular I now miss every day, all because I realized something far, far too late. The _last_ thing I want is to see you make the same mistake. Go find Naruto and tell him how you really feel. And know that whatever happens, I couldn't be prouder of you two. You kids are like the daughter and son that I never had."

"Sensei..." Sakura was touch by her master's words, nee, she was rendered speechless. She couldn't help herself and embraced the old woman in a warm hug, which Tsunade returned.

After she broke up the hug, Sakura bowed to the buxom woman. "Arigato Lady Tsunade!"

"You're welcome. Now you go ahead and run home a think about what I've said. Meanwhile...I've got a briefcase full of cash and I'm looking for a way to enjoy my retirement!"

* * *

By the time Sakura made it back to her family's home, she found that her mother was the only person there.

"Hey mom, where's dad?"

"He had a couple of errands of his own to run in the village today, so he said he'd be home late," Mebuki explained. "So where have you been all day sweetie?"

"Oh, just doing some of my own shopping and running into Ino and Lady Tsunade. They really helped me out today."

"How so?"

Sakura paused for a moment before she looked at her mother with determination. "Mom, there's someone I need to speak to tomorrow. Someone I should have spoken to for a long time now."

"Oh! Is it Naruto dear? I always did like that boy!"

Sakura face faulted, "W-What? How did you know...? Wait a minute! Then why didn't you want me talking to him while we were still little kids?"

Mebuki frowned, hard. "Well...at first it was because I was afraid. I was a new mother and I didn't want anyone going after you the way they always treated him...and I always regretted that too. But I always knew that one day that boy would turn into something special, and look where he is now!"

The older woman laughed, "You know, when you first came home and told me that you'd been assigned to the same team as both Naruto and Sasuke, I was happy that you were going to get to spend more time with your crush. Both I also really wanted you to get close to Naruto, remember me telling you that dear?" Sakura nodded her head. "But you wouldn't listen to me then because of how dead-set on Sasuke you were."

Sakura really didn't need any more guilt trips about this today, especially not from her own mother.

But then, the woman got up from where she was sitting and pulled a book from the shelf. "Here, let me show you something."

Sakura sat down at the dinner table and opened the book that her mother had given her. It was a photo album, one that included pictures of both of her parents during their youth, but there was one photo in particular that caught Sakura's attention.

It was a photo of two young Genin, kunoichi fresh out of the Academy. One of them was clearly Mebuki back when she was a girl, but the other one...

"Wait! You knew Naruto's mom?! How come you never told me?!"

"You never asked."

Sakura examined the photo in fascination. "Amazing, both of you were so young and pretty. I bet yours was a beautiful friendship."

Mebuki laughed at that idea. "Actually...we both hated each other."

"Huh?!"

"Well, during my Academy days, I was a Yankee. At that time I wanted to show everyone that I could fight alone, that's why I always picked fights with others, even though they didn't consider me strong enough. That's why I decided that in order to gain respect I needed to beat her...the girl from another village that the kids at school all called "The Red Hot-Blooded Habenaro."

"You picked a fight with Naruto's mom?"

"Yeah, I did, and for a while we were like that. I was tough, but ol' tomato face was that much tougher. But that changed one day when a bunch of bullies tried ganging up on us. Something came over us both, I don't know what, but we both decided in that instant to work together to beat the crap out of all of them...and we did! The stragglers ran away scarred to their parents and knew to never mess with either of us again!"

Sakura was suddenly getting uncomfortable, 'Kiba and Shikamaru were right, mothers are scary.'

"Anyway, after it was over we both shared a huge laugh. It was fun, and we found that we had a lot of things in common. And from that day, our rivalry blossomed into a beautiful friendship."

Sakura took all of this in, "Wow...I had no idea! Who would have thought that from rivals you two would become such good friends."

Mebuki smiled "We still fought though, I didn't want to loose to her, no matter what!"

"I'm so curious! Please tell me more!"

"Well, Kushina, Mikoto and I, we were all good friends, and when we each got married we all stayed in touch. We also all knew that we had kids on the way...Who knew that the three of you would all end up teammates one day...! When Kushina died, and Mikoto later, I was heartbroken, and I regret not being there for her's and Minato's son like I should have been...But I am so proud of what you two have become now Sakura!"

Sakura thought about this for a second before she left for her room. "Thanks for telling me that mom. And you're right, it is Naruto that I need to talk to, before I loose him forever!"

"Go get 'em Sakura!" Mebuki pumped her fist in the air in support. As her daughter disappeared into her room, she looked back at the picture of her and Kushina and thought back to when the two of them were young wives, one of them already a mother, with the other expecting a child very soon...

* * *

"Hey Mebuki, I was thinking," Kushina said

"What is it? Mebuki asked.

"Wouldn't it be great if our children ended up getting married someday? We would become some kick ass mother-in-laws, y'know!"

"Pfft! Honestly you! Your child hasn't even been born yet and you're already making plans. Besides, who tells you that it's going to be a boy?"

"He will! I'm 100% sure about it! I can feel it, y'know!"

Kushina then turned her attention to an adorable bundle of joy cradled in Mebuki's arms, one with bright pink hair, wide emerald eyes, fat, puffy cheeks, and a wide forehead.

"And you agree with me, right Sakura?"

Kushina tickled the baby's cheeks, causing her to laugh adorably, "Aw! See! See! She agrees with me!"

"You're tickling her! That's cheating!"

"So cute! My baby is going to be all yours...unless Mikoto's girl will be prettier that is."

"Mikoto's having a baby boy, you idiot!"

"I'm joking, I'm joking! It's just...I can't wait to see our future."

* * *

Mubuki smiled fondly at the memory, and at how much that future was becoming a reality now.

'Kushina, you always did talk too much. But this time...it won't take long.'

* * *

There you have it! Four chapters down in only two days! One more day and I'll meet my goal!

Okay, two references that I need to address this chapter. First is the tile, "Reflections Of..." is in reference to the song "Reflections" by Diana Ross and the Supremes. I didn't actually use the song this time but that lyric sounded like a great title to me, especially for the final bit.

In speaking of which, the whole sequence of Mebuki revealing her past friendship with Kushina to Sakura was directly adapted from an unfinished doujinshi by the amazingly talented LadyGT. Seriously, if you have never seen her work, go check out her tumblr page. Her work is so amazing that if you didn't know any better you'd mistake it for something Kishimoto would have drawn himself! So, LadyGT, if by some miracle you are reading this, please don't be too upset because I meant this as a tribute to you, not a condemnation.

Well, that's all I've got this time! I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you all at the finale!


	5. Chapter 5--Together At Last

Happy NaruSaku Day everybody! thesaiyanjedi here, and in honor of this occasion, I hereby present to you the conclusion of "Heaven and Earth Together At Last"!

Seriously you guys, thank you all so much for your support! I was worried that maybe this might not come out so good because of how much I was rushing it to make this deadline. But you're reception helped give me the motivation to see it through to the end. And now, I've made it!

Word of warning up front: there will be some heavy drama within this chapter, as there were some dangling issues left behind from the series that I felt Naruto and Sakura needed to confront each other on directly for a relationship between them to work.

So, with that said. I hope you all enjoy, and once again, thanks for reading!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Together At Last**

On April 3rd, at the gates of Konoha, three shinobi waited patiently for signs of their old friend.

"Shouldn't he be here by now?" Naruto whined.

"Patience Naruto," Kakashi commanded, "he'll be here soon enough."

Normally Sakura would have been the one to reprimand the blonde for his behavior, but both of them had barely greeted one another when they got there. The rest of the time they pretty much spent by themselves as they waited for—

"Hey! I think I see him!" Naruto said excitedly as he pointed towards the woods that lay outside the gate.

Indeed, there he was. Approaching the village was a figure clothed in navy blue and black, with black hair and with a dark poncho over his clothes. He had a limp sleeve that flapped lightly in the breeze, a telltale sign of his missing limb.

The figure approached the front gate and Izumo and Kotatsu, the managers of the check in station, were prepared to begin searching him.

"Take it easy you guys," Kakashi waved at them, "he's okay."

The two Jōnin backed down and let their visitor pass. The visitor, who had his head down all this time, stopped in front of the Hokage and his former students and looked up.

"Hey you guys," Sasuke said smiling—yes, _smiling!_ "Long time no see."

"SASUKE!" an overly-enthusiastic Naruto proclaimed as he hugged—yes, _hugged!_—his old friend.

To this, Sasuke scowled, "Dobe, unless you want to loose that arm all over again, you'll let go of me right now."

Naruto, embarrassed at his own moment of overreaction, let go and shrugged it off like it never happened.

"I...err, sorry about that man."

Sasuke merely rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He then noticed his other teammate, who was looking at him with anticipation, but not the same kind of anticipation that he was used to. She seemed more...conflicted than usual, and something told him that he _wasn't_ the cause of it this time.

"Hello Sakura."

"...Hi Sasuke...umm...welcome home."

Naruto noticed Sakura attitude also. 'That's weird. I figured that she'd be all over Sasuke the instant he stepped through the gate. But instead its like she barely cares. What's gotten into her?'

"Well then," Kakashi interrupted, "I hope you're all hungry, because I've booked all three of us reservations at one of the village's finest restaurants for lunch. My treat...so _please_ eat in moderation Naruto."

The blonde couldn't help the vein that appeared on his forehead as he followed his old sensei alongside the rest of his old team.

* * *

The four of them got to the restaurant within twenty minutes and when Naruto realized where they were, he felt a little bit uneasy. 'Oh God! This is the _exact_ same place where me and Hinata went last night!'

He shifted his gaze over to Sakura, who still seemed to be deep in thought. What he never realized was that every moment he wasn't looking at her, she would constantly find herself shifting her gaze over to him.

Neither of them may have noticed...but Sasuke and Kakashi certainly did.

The maitre'd showed them to their table and before long the waiter came by to take their orders. Kakashi ordered the barbecued steak and scalloped potatoes with a side of carrots and broccoli. Sasuke ordered a four seasons platter made up of pan fried chicken, beef, scallops and pork, on top of pan fried noodles. Sakura wasn't feeling hugely hungry, so she just ordered the chicken salad. Naruto...well, naturally, he ordered ramen.

"So Sasuke," Naruto said as they waited for their food, "what happened to you out there? Do you feel like you've made amends for your past yet?"

Sasuke put down the glass of water he was drinking from and spoke. "No dobe, not even close. My time away from the village has given me time to think about the way things are and I realized that I need to do _a lot_ more to redeem the Uchiha clan name." He sighed and looked squarely at his two teammates. "I'm sure neither of you wants to hear this, but I'm only going to be staying for a couple of weeks to rest up and set some affairs in order. After that I'm going to be leaving again." He turned directly to Sakura, "I'm sorry."

"Its okay Sasuke, I understand, really," she said sincerely, with only the barest trace of disappointment in her voice.

"Oh...okay," Sasuke said in genuine surprise.

"Well I can't say I'm not bummed out about this," Naruto huffed, "but I guess I'm not surprised either. Whatever!"

"We're all just glad to have you home for a little while Sasuke," Kakashi said as he read his favorite book.

The one-armed Uchiha smiled in appreciation, "Thanks Kakashi, it's good to be home."

"You know Sasuke," Sakura said, "before you leave again, Lady Tsunade can see to it that the new artificial arm she grew for you out of Hashirama's cells gets attached."

Sasuke looked at his limp sleeve for a moment, "Thank you Sakura, but I think I'm okay with it being like this for a while."

"What? But why?"

"Call it a reminder, a reminder of everything I've done and everything I have to work to repair. When I finally feel like I've fully redeemed myself...maybe then I'll grow it back."

Naruto and Sakura looked at Sasuke in wonder as they took in what he said.

"But Sasuke," Naruto said, "won't having only one arm make it harder for you to perform any jutsus?"

"Yeah, but I've heard of one-armed shinobi who have managed it before, so how hard can it be for someone like me?"

'There he goes, acting all cool again!' Naruto whined inside his head. 'Show off!' But then he noticed something, "Hey wait! Sasuke, what happened to your Rinnegan?"

"Huh?...Oh yeah. I've figured out how to turn it on and off since I left. I feel like I'm starting to get pretty good control of it now."

"Wow that's awesome!" Naruto said, but then he leaned in to whisper something in his ear. "By the way, if you ever do decide to get that new arm attached, brace yourself for the worst, okay? It hurts..._BAD!_"

Sasuke shrugged off the warning, but logged it in the back of his mind anyway. "I'll keep that in mind."

By this time their food had finally arrived. It was pretty good, hence why there was little talking going on, until...

"Mmm!" Sakura ate happily. "This food is delicious!"

"Yeah, it's just as good now as it was when Hinata and I ate here yesterday—"

You could hear the crickets in the room as soon as Naruto said that. 'Oh _SHIT!_ Why the fuck did I just say that out loud!'

Sakura looked like a dagger just pierced her heart, "Y-You did what?!"

"Oh really?" Kakashi asked in surprise, "I didn't know that you and Hinata were going out."

"W-We're not! It was just one date! We had fun, but then we—well, lets just say that we both agreed that it wasn't going to work between us."

Sakura's unexpected moment of jealously turned into a moment of surprise, and even concern. "What happened?"

Naruto really did not want to have to talk about this with Sakura right now. "Its no big deal really—"

"What happened dobe?!" Sasuke asked firmly, as if he were somehow disappointed in his best friend.

Naruto, recognizing that he had no way out of this now, sighed and started explaining.

"We had dinner here, then went to go see the stars on top of the Hokage Monument. But Hinata felt that I had something on my mind all night...and I did. There was...there's been somebody on my mind for a while now and even while I was out with Hinata I couldn't stop thinking about her. I tried explaining it to her that I was over her now, but then she slapped me for lying to myself."

"She **slapped** you?!" Sakura asked incredulous.

Yeah," he said as he rubbed his cheek at the memory.

Never in a million years had Sakura ever imagined sweet, innocent, shy, lovesick Hinata of ever laying a finger against Naruto...Well, there was that one time during the war when he gave in to despair after Neji died, but that was it! Then again...

"Well it serves you right you idiot! You don't think about another woman while you're on a date with someone!"

Naruto was going to say something to protest, but he ended up just keeping his mouth shut. Sakura, meanwhile, turned away from him in a huff and said nothing else to him for the rest of the meal. She was turned away so he could not see the obvious pain on her face.

Across the table, Sasuke just looked at the two of them in disappointment. 'All this time and they _still_ haven't figured it out! Naruto...you really are an idiot!'

"So Sasuke," Kakashi said in an attempt to lighten the mood, "are you really going to be going on your next journey on your own again?"

"Oh, I won't be on my own. I got back in touch with my old team and they agreed to journey with me. Suigetsu, Jūgo, Karin—"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto remembered, "you mean that red-haired girl with the glasses right?"

"Yeah, exactly." That's when Sasuke remembered something he wanted to say to his friend. "You know dobe, you and Karin should get to know each other some time."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Because she just so happens to be from the Uzumaki clan."

_**"WHAT?!"**_

* * *

After lunch, Sasuke parted ways with his two friends to go back to the old Uchiha compound. Kakashi needed to get back to work, much to his annoyance, while Naruto and Sakura both went their separate ways, Naruto to the training grounds to get in some training, Sakura to the hospital to finish her shift...

...Hours later, both teens were in their respective homes, each deep in thought as the sun set and the village was consumed by the night.

Naruto was thinking about Sakura's behavior during lunch today, how strangely unenthusiastic she seemed now that Sasuke was back home. And then there was how shocked and angry she was over what happened during his date with Hinata.

'Since when does she care about my love life?'

But then his mind turned back to Sasuke, specifically the last thing he told him before he left the village the last time, "Take good care of her."

He thought back, long and hard, about their youth, about their careers, about their relationship, about everything. He thought about how awkward they were around each other today and about everything he'd committed himself to the night before.

He made up his mind in that instant. "This has to stop. Tonight!"

* * *

Sakura was sitting in her room, very deep in thought. She was thinking long and hard about a boy, but _not_ the boy her friends would have expected.

Naruto went out with Hinata? How could he do that?! How could he just turn around on her and go out with someone else behind her back?—And why the hell was it any of her business anyway?

She always knew Hinata's feelings for Naruto, you'd think she'd be happy that she finally went out with him. But instead she just felt jealous...yes _jealous_. She'd experienced that emotion enough times now to recognize it easily. Besides, who Naruto chose to spend his time with was his own business, she was in no position to complain.

And yet, she remembered the surprise and odd sense of relief she felt when he explained how their night ended. 'I have to admit, I have whole new respect for Hinata now!'

Still, this whole day got her thinking hard about the boy that had been occupying her mind all week. She'd thought about their youth, about their careers, about their relationship, about everything. She'd thought about how distant they'd become since the war ended. She thought long and hard about everything Ino, Tsunade and ever her own mother had told her, and most of all, she'd thought about her commitment to repairing their damaged relationship before it was too late.

And then she remembered Sasuke's advice to her before he left the last time "You need to the find your own path. You need to look deep inside yourself and figure out what it is you _really_ want."

Suddenly, she was broken out of her thoughts when she heard a clanking on her window.

"Huh?" she asked herself in alarm.

She got up off her bed and went to the window to see the very person she had been thinking about right outside. On instinct, she got up and unlocked the window.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"Sakura, we need to talk."

Sakura was taken aback by the seriousness in his voice, but she steeled herself as that very tone of his gave her confidence as well.

"You're right, we _really_ do. But Naruto, maybe this should wait until morning—"

"No! We've put this off for far too long already. I'm tired of waiting."

Sakura stared in surprise for a moment before giving in, "Me too. Com on in and we'll talk."

"No, not here, I know a better place," he said as he held out his hand for her to take.

"Naruto? Are you sure...?"

"Do you trust me?"

"W-What?"

"Do you trust me?" He put on one of his signature innocent smiles that never ceased to put her at ease.

Sakura didn't dwell on it for very long as she smiled, "Yes Naruto, more than anyone."

With that, the boy took the girl's hand and led her away into the night...

...Outside of Sakura's closed door, Mebuki Haruno merely leaned against it and smiled.

* * *

He took her to the Hokage Monument, where the village always looked beautiful lit up with the lights and sounds and endless bustle life within it. There were standing overlooking it and directly beneath them was the gigantic bust of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and Naruto's father.

The blonde-haired young man turned to the pink-haired young woman. "Sakura, I've been thinking about you..._us_, a lot lately, and I think there are some things that we need to set straight."

Sakura sighed lightly, "I've been thinking about us too...Frankly, I don't even know where to begin."

"I do," Naruto said. "Let's start by talking about what happened in the Land of Iron."

"Naruto, I'm not sure now is—"

"You're right! We should have talked about this a _long_ time ago! When you came to see me that day, you came to tell me that everyone had decided to take care of Sasuke. But instead of trusting me with the truth, you told me you loved me."

Sakura hung her head at the memory.

Naruto saw this but kept going, "I told you that day that I hate people who lie to themselves, and after that we fought and you turned away from me to kill Sasuke without telling me. And if I hadn't gotten there in time, you would have been killed yourself! What I want to know now is: What were you thinking?"

"What?"

"What was your plan? Because every time I think about it I can never make sense of it. Why didn't you trust me with the truth? Didn't you think I could handle it? Or did you **really** think I was **that** stupid that I wouldn't have seen past your lies?"

"Of course not! I did it to protect you! You were obsessed with going after Sasuke, and it was all because of that stupid promise you made to me!"

"And it never once occurred to you that maybe I wanted my best friend back just a badly as you did?"

"You were going to **kill** yourself Naruto! And I wasn't going to be responsible for it!"

"You know what? It doesn't even matter anymore! It's not like you and I ever had a chance either way."

Sakura's face sagged after she heard that. "What are you saying?"

Naruto sighed, "Suppose I did choose to believe you that day, what then? Were you just going to force yourself into a fake relationship with me? Was I just the rebound guy until Sasuke came home, then you'd drop me like a used hat?!"

"No! Never! Naruto I'd **never** use you like that!" She stopped before going on, "You're right, I was lying to myself that day...I was lying about not yet being over Sasuke, but I **never** lied about loving you."

Naruto's anger instantly softened when he heard this. He was looking, looking _hard_ for any signs of deception, and he wasn't finding any.

"W-What did you say?"

"Naruto," she began, "you mean a lot to me, **a lot!** Everything I told you that day, about how amazing you were, how you've always been there for me, how safe I felt with you near me, I meant every word of it! I've never known another man like you. And when Sai told me how you felt about me, I knew I needed to do something. **That's** why I told you what I did that day! No, maybe all of my feelings weren't totally figured out yet, and yes, maybe I was—no, I was _definitely_ lying to myself—but all of it was for you! I wasn't going to forgive myself if you died because of me. So since you wouldn't listen to reason, I took the choice out of your hands and went after Sasuke myself—"

"And what then?" Naruto interrupted. "Say you _did_ find the strength to kill Sasuke that day, put all of his grief and his decent into darkness to and end...What then? You knew I'd find out. Did you think that I'd take the news that you'd killed Sasuke like it was no big deal and we'd just go on being friends?—"

"No! No, I knew full well what it would mean."

"Then tell me, what would it mean?"

Sakura, who was breaking into tears by this point, finally admitted everything to the boy before her.

"It would have meant living with and deserving **your** hatred! It would have meant having to sever my ties with the one man whose been there at my side and has done more for me than anyone else! It would have meant loosing my best friend forever...! But it would **also** mean **saving** your **life!** ...And **that** was more important."

Naruto took it all in. He was totally shocked. 'She...my God! She was willing to go through all of that...just for me?'

A long, awkward silence followed. Neither one of them could say anything to the other. Sakura was trying to dry her tears, tears for which Naruto now felt like scum for causing in the first place.

"...I'm sorry Sakura. I guess we shouldn't have talked about that day after all."

Sakura somehow managed to get herself under control again, "No Naruto, you were right. We should have discussed this a long time ago."

"I...I never knew you cared about me so much..."

Now it was Sakura's turn to be taken aback. "Are you kidding me? Of course I do you idiot! I can't even _imagine_ my life anymore without you in it! When you turned into that...that _thing_ that day at the Tenchi Bridge, I was **horrified!** The boy I knew was gone and in his place was some...some...monster! I **never** wanted to see you like that again! When Madara ripped Kurama out of you, I was scarred! You were dying! One of my biggest fears was coming true and even after cutting you open and holding your _heart_ in my _hand_ while giving you CPR, I was powerless to save you!"

Naruto couldn't resist blushing, "Wait, you gave me CPR?"

"You were **DYING!**" The girl started sobbing again. "You were going to die, and I was going to have to **watch** you die! All your hopes, your stupid dream, all of it was right in front of you and you were going to **die!** Its only because of your father and Obito that you're even here with me now."

"Sakura..."

"Why do you love me Naruto?"

"W-What?"

"Why do you care so much about me? Hinata's a wonderful woman! She loves you! She deserves you far more than I ever will!

"Yeah, Hinata is a wonderful woman...but she's not you Sakura."

"Look at me Naruto! I'm worthless! Weak! A burden! That's all I've ever been to you a burden! You deserve far better than that!"

**"STOP IT!"**

Sakura ended her rant by looking up into the boy's eyes.

"You are **not** worthless! You are **not** weak! And you are **anything** but a burden! I don't ever want to hear you talk about yourself that way again! Do you understand?! The Sakura I know is strong, smart, beautiful, speaks her mind and goes after what she wants! She's **everything** I've ever wanted in a woman!"

Naruto stopped himself as literally a dozen memories and feelings all came to him at once, before he laughed to himself and looked directly into the girl's eyes. "And you know what...she still is."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing, "W-What?"

"I love you Sakura. I always have. And I always will."

Sakura eyes glossed over as tears fells from them once again...only this time they were different. They weren't tears of pain, or regret, or anguish...they were tears of joy. It was like some invisible weight had just been lifted off her shoulders and she could see everything clearly now for the first time...

"I just want you to know how I feel Sakura. And even if you never feel the same way, no matter what paths we take, I'll—"

Naruto never got to finish his speech because he suddenly felt a pair of lips crash onto his own! Arms grabbed the back of his head as they held him desperately.

Sakura wrapped her arms around him. She hugged this boy tight, never ever wanting to let him go! She relaxed into the kiss, her first kiss...she'd always imagined Sasuke would be the one, and yet here she was with Naruto instead. And you know something...it felt amazing!

She felt like she was walking on air! Tears of joy continued to flow down her face as she was overcome with emotions for the blonde that she should have recognized a long time ago.

Naruto was shocked, far more shocked than when Hinata kissed him, but he wasn't about to complain! Sakura tasted amazing! She was finally giving him what he had always wanted!

And there was no denying anything this time. What was being channeled through her lips could not be faked. She was finally returning his feelings for real!

Naruto relaxed into the kiss and wrapped his strong arms around her waist. Neither of them knew how long they stayed like that and neither of them cared. All of the arguing, all of the grief, all of the hardships...**none** of it mattered anymore! It was all just one giant obstacle to get them to this moment. This bliss. This connection that was many years in the making. And it was all worth it!

Finally they both needed to break for air. And as they did so Naruto looked into the pinkette's gorgeous emerald eyes, now so full of life and happiness, all of it for him. She was giving him maybe the brightest smile he had ever seen from her.

And then came the words he had waited to hear from her his whole life, and this time there was no denying what they truly meant.

"Naruto...I love you."

The boy was grinning like mad! He could not remember the last time he'd felt _this_ happy about anything!

He quickly grabbed the girl and pulled her in for another lip lock. This one she quickly returned and they let all of their passion out into this one kiss. Hands wandered everywhere, tongues entered each other's mouths and when they pulled apart, a string of saliva connected them.

"Whoa..." was the only thing either of them could say...at the exact same time no less, which prompted a lighthearted giggle from both of them.

Sakura wrapped her arms around him as she stared into his dazzling eyes. "Naruto?"

"What is it Sakura?"

"I'm sorry things have been so hard between us. I'm sorry for making you wait so long. I'm sorry for letting myself be blind to what was right in front of me this whole time...But I'm not anymore! I love you Naruto Uzumaki, with all of my heart and soul! And nothing would make me happier than to be with you!"

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that Sakura." He brought her into another hug before he said something else. "You have such a charming forehead, it makes me want to kiss it."

Sakura's eyes snapped open in shock 'What did he say! Wait—Does that mean—'

Her memories were interrupted as she felt her new lover press his lips to her forehead, right where her diamond seal was. It felt so surreal. It felt just like she used to fantasize Sasuke's lips feeling. Only this was better. _Much_ better.

When he broke the kiss she just had to ask, "That first day we were all together...that was you?"

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head goofily. "Yeah."

Sakura merely punched him in the arm, lightly, "You are such a dork." He merely laughed at this. "That was some first kiss huh?"

Naruto's face suddenly went white as he remembered something, namely what had happened between him and Hinata the other night.

'Oh...crap...'

* * *

Team 7 was gathered together again at the front gate of the village to say goodbye to their teammate one more time. He'd promised that he'd return soon enough, once he felt he was ready.

"So...I guess this is goodbye again huh?" Naruto asked his best friend.

"For now," Sasuke answered. "Don't get all mopey on me dobe. I'll be back again."

"Hey! Who're you calling mopey! I'm not the least bit mopey! As soon as you're gone that means I get some more alone time with Sakura—**OWW!**"

Naruto had to stop himself as he got knocked on the head by his girlfriend.

"Control yourself doofus!" Sakura warned him. "Just because we're dating now doesn't mean that I'm going to stand back and leave you to your usual shenanigans. Got it!"

"Yes ma'am," Naruto said as he rubbed the bump on his head.

Sakura then turned to her former crush, now close friend. "Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to thank you. For what you said to me that day. You were right, I did need to look inside myself to find what I really wanted. If I hadn't..." she took her boyfriend's hand inside her own, "...I would never have found the love of my life."

Naruto smiled at Sakura's show of affection towards him, before turning to Saskue himself. "I guess I owe you one too buddy! And don't you worry, I'll take good care of her..." he squeezed her hand tighter, "...and I'll never let her go."

Sakura smiled in glee at what she just heard. She leaned in and gave her boyfriend a deep kiss, which he returned.

Kakashi, watching from the back, smiled beneath his mask. '_Finally!_ I couldn't be prouder of you kids!'

The two lovers were only broken up when they heard a coughing sound meant to get their attention. They turned and saw Sasuke looking at them with a shit-eating grin on his face, and he even cocked an eyebrow once they noticed him, just for emphasis.

"Oh knock it off jerk!" Naruto shouted.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. But seriously, I'm proud of you guys...Y'know, I always did have a hunch that you two would be a terrific couple, ever since we first became Team 7."

_**"HUH?!"**_ Both of them said in shock.

Sasuke merely nodded his head in confirmation.

"But Sasuke," Sakura asked, "how come you never said anything back then?"

"I was in a different mindset back then: young, angry, pompous, obsessed with achieving my goal—"

"Don't forget 'emo!'" Naruto interrupted.

A vein briefly appeared on the Uchiha's forehead. "Yeah, that too. Anyway, I was so caught up in myself back then that I didn't really care one way or another. Besides..." he turned to Sakura, "if I had told you outright that you and Naruto were a good match back then, would you have believed me?"

Sakura didn't wait long to give a response, "...No, no I wouldn't. But I guess it doesn't matter anymore anyway." She gave her boyfriend one last peck on the cheek, making him blush and smile.

Sasuke took that as his cue to exit. "Alright, I guess I'd better get going before you two lovebirds make me sick."

Sakura walked up to him and gave him a friendly hug. Naruto, watching, didn't feel any sense of jealously over this like he would have in the past. He didn't need to anymore. Sakura was _his_ now, and he was never letting her go.

"Goodbye Sasuke, and thank you," she said.

"Goodbye Sakura, and you're welcome."

After they broke up the hug, Naruto walked up to his best friend and the two of them shook hands.

"See ya pal...and thanks."

"You're welcome...brother."

With that, the Uchiha lazily waved them goodbye as he departed from the village gate. Naruto and Sakura held hands until their friend was out of their sight.

"Well, I guess I'll be going back to the office again," Kakashi moaned. "All that paperwork isn't going to sign itself after all." He started walking before he stopped long enough to smile and wave to his two students. "Congratulations you two!"

"ARIGATO SENSEI!" the both said in unison.

As Kakashi was leaving, Naruto turned to his girlfriend. "So Sakura, what did you want to do now?"

"Hmm..." she pretended to think about it. "Well, I was feeling a bit hungry...How about the to two of us go to Ichiraku's for lunch?"

"Y-You mean like a date?!"

She smiled cutely and held up a victory sign, "Yep!"

'God I love this woman!' That's what Naruto thought as he leaped into the air and yelled "Yeah!" loud enough for the whole village to hear.

Sakura merely put her head in her hand in embarrassment. 'God! He's such an idiot!'

But then she smiled warmly, took her boyfriend's hand, and walked with him to his favorite restaurant on what was about to become their first official date.

'But still...he's **_my_** idiot...and I wouldn't have it any other way.'

* * *

There you have it NaruSaku fans! I hope I lived up to all of your expectations and left you all satisfied with the ending.

Once again, I want to thank all of you for helping to give me the motivation to get this thing done in time for NaruSaku Day. I knew that there was no better time to put it out there and that it would be a challenge, but you guys made it all worth it!

I felt very strongly that the conversation, nee argument, over what happened in Chapters 469 and 470 were something that _needed_ to happen at some point. I always found it weird that they would have such a falling out, then Naruto saves her from Sasuke by _literally_ sweeping her off her feet, and yet their relationship after that didn't seem to change at all. This was my way of dealing with that. Also, some of the dialogue in this argument was inspired by the break up between Bruce Wayne and Alfred in "The Dark Knight Rises."

I liked the idea of Sasuke revealing himself to have been a closet NaruSaku shipper himself, and thought that it would have been a hilarious twist if that had turned out to be the case, so I hope that it succeeded in coming across that way.

The gag of Naruto warning Sasuke of how painful the procedure to reattach his arm will be was intended as a double reference. First and foremost, it was a callback to Naruto's own operation scene in Chapter 18 of "Shinachiku's First Adventure." But it was also intended as a mirroring of Kushina and Mikoto's interaction in Chapter 500 of the series, where Kushina leans in and asks Mikoto it terror about how painful giving birth is. Here, it is kind to the reverse of that as Naruto is leaning in to warn Sasuke about a painful experience he's already had. Just try to imagine both scenes with both mother and son having the same reactions in each.

I think that's all I've got! I met my goal of publishing five chapters in three days. It was exhausting, but it was worth it!

I hope all of you enjoyed it, and long live NaruSaku!


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